EP 94 — Silent Ventures' Jackson Moses on Why Dual Use Is a Dirty Word in Defense Tech

Jackson Moses, Founder and Managing Partner at Silent Ventures, spent a decade building companies before he started backing them. He founded Silent Ventures to invest exclusively at the pre-seed and seed stage in aerospace, defense, and national security, specifically because he believed most early-stage investors didn't understand what it actually took to survive inside the defense contracting system.

Jackson makes the case that most defense tech companies fail on go to market, not technology, and that a program of record is the only outcome that turns a defense tech startup into a real business. He also gives a direct take on why dual use is a hedge word, why SBIR dollars prolong the valley of death instead of crossing it, and why diversification is the wrong thesis for anyone investing seriously in this space.

Topics discussed:

• Why SBIRs prolong the valley of death instead of solving it
• Dual use as a hedge word, not a strategy
• Program of record as the only real success metric for defense tech
• What Silent Ventures looks for in a founding team at pre-seed
• Go-to-market as the primary failure point in defense tech
• Why diversification kills alpha in defense tech investing
• Biggest funding gaps: electronic warfare and affordable drone mass
• The case against building a defense tech company around non-dilutive funding

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